To catalyze the discussion and implementation of state policies for an integrated continuum of long-term care LTC , it is imperative to assemble strategic actions involving the public and private sectors, civil society, international agencies, professionals, academia, and the media, considering clear objectives for improving the lives of older adults, their families, and the communities where they live. In this essay, we focused on institutional care.
Tensions between advocates of different models of care for older people should include space for dialogue, convergence, and intersectoral actions, regardless of where LTC is provided. The aim of this essay was to reflect on the urgency of developing an integrated continuum of LTC for older adults in Brazil that considers care as a right along with its modalities of delivery, flow, services, and activities, as well as sustainable financing alternatives and legal and governance directives.
This work was divided into four sections: 1 aging as a social achievement and care as a right; 2 models of LTC and panorama of the sector in Brazil; 3 change in paradigms for conceiving LTCFs and LTC; and 4 framework for achieving an integrated continuum of LTC. The projected demand for long-term care LTC , β that is, the care required for performing activities related to personal care, household chores, and other complex skills required for independent living as well as maintaining social relationships β, 1 constitutes both a challenge an undeniable need.
This challenge is particularly experienced by low- and middle-income countries, where the development of LTC policies does not keep up with population aging. To catalyze the discussion and implementation of state policies for an integrated continuum of LTC it is imperative to assemble strategic actions involving public administrators, the civil society, international agencies, professionals, academia, the media, and the private sector, considering clear objectives for improving the lives of older adults, their families, and the communities where they live.
LTC-related activities should consider assistive technology, as well as those that contribute with the health and personal care, social needs, and functional abilities of individuals. LTC may be provided continuously or intermittently, ensuring that:. According to the WHO, national systems that ensure integrated LTC should be appropriate, affordable, accessible, and uphold the rights of older persons and their caregivers, including organizations, people, and actions whose primary intent is to promote, restore, or maintain the health or functional abilities of people with restrictions or limitations of these abilities and of those who need or are at risk or needing care.
